As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Information handling systems often incorporate power systems with multiple individual power modules to ensure that information handling resources are consistently supplied with necessary electrical current. For example, an information handling system may incorporate a voltage regulator with multiple phases, each phase capable of delivering a particular amount of electrical current. As another example, an information handling system may incorporate a power supply system with multiple redundant power supplies, each redundant power supply capable of delivering a particular amount of electrical current.
Some traditional multi-phase voltage regulators utilize phase shedding, whereby such voltage regulators are configured to cease supplying electrical current from unneeded phases. Phase shedding occurs when electrical current demand decreases to a threshold level in which the multi-phase voltage regulator can disable a phase and still supply the necessary electrical current. In a manner similar to phase shedding in voltage regulators, a traditional power supply system may selectively disable or power down one or more of its redundant power supplies when electrical current decreases to a threshold level in which the power supply system can disable a redundant power supply and still supply the necessary electrical current. Such phase shedding or disabling of power supplies may be desirable in order to maximize power efficiency of a power system.
One disadvantage of disabling power modules (e.g., shedding of regulator phases or disabling of redundant power supplies) is that the current demands of the individual power modules that remain enabled may increase. In other words, a power module that remains enabled may be required to supply an electrical current greater than such power module would need to supply if all power modules were enabled. In supplying such increased demand, a power module may experience increased operating temperatures. As a result of operating at increased temperatures, a power system may experience lower than expected efficiencies, decreased reliability, or decreased lifetime. Traditional responses to exceeding a temperature threshold include forcing a shutdown of the power system, which may lead to undesired downtime or other undesired effects.